Pursuit

John Fritze's article, "Bartlett fumbles finance reports," (June 25) serves to point out once again the problems arising with politicians taking campaign contributions. There is only one answer to such a fiasco. Politicians should do what I do as a teacher of political science. In my last two campaigns, for governor in and for U.S. Senate, I made a commitment to refuse any campaign contributions whatsoever. On a budget by design of $450 for the 2010 campaign and $280 for the 2012 campaign, my vote total was 22,828 votes.

Editor's note: Each week, InsideMdSports.com provides this blog with a Maryland recruiting feature that previously appeared as premium content on its site. This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Perry Dozier Jr., who was considering Maryland for his final official visit, will visit Louisville instead. Diamond Stone , the top-ranked center and No. 5 player in the 247Sports Composite rankings for the Class of 2015 has a final five of Wisconsin, Connecticut, Duke, Oklahoma State and Maryland.

Police officers on Thursday shot and wounded a man driving a car linked to an armed robbery after chasing the vehicle nearly 30 miles from southern Anne Arundel County to Lansdowne, according to a Baltimore County police spokeswoman. During the chase up Interstate 97, police said the man waved a handgun out of the window of the car. The pursuit involved troopers from the Maryland State Police and officers from Baltimore City and Baltimore and Anne Arundel Counties. Det. Cathy Batton, the Baltimore County police spokeswoman, said the chase began about 11:07 a.m. on Solomons Island Road, southwest of Annapolis, and ended about 11:48 a.m. at Virginia Avenue and Fenor Road in the Baltimore Highlands neighborhood.

I neglected to offer you anything from H.L. Mencken yesterday on his birthday. So today, I will let you judge for yourselves how much this passage from "On Being an American" (1922) rings true today: "The United States, to my eye, is incomparably the greatest show on earth. It is a show which avoids diligently all the kinds of clowning which tire me most quickly--for example, royal ceremonials, the tedious hocus-pocus of haute politique , the taking of politics seriously--and lays chief stress upon the kinds which delight me unceasingly--for example, the ribald combats of demagogues, the exquisitely ingenious operations of master rogues, the pursuit of witches and heretics, the desperate struggles of inferior men to claw their way into Heaven.

A Baltimore man was killed in a car crash Sunday after fleeing from a Maryland State Police trooper in Calvert County, officials said. The man was not immediately identified as authorities worked to notify his relatives. State Police said a trooper, identified as Trooper First Class Shareef Lewis, was monitoring traffic near the intersection of Rt. 4 near Industry Lane in Prince Frederick around 3 p.m. when he noticed a Mitsubishi without a front plate. The trooper attempted to stop the Mitsubishi, which initially pulled onto a shoulder before accelerating and fleeing north along Rt. 4. The trooper followed the car, which drove onto a side road, Main Street, and back onto Rt. 4, swerving back and forth across traffic and going southbound in the northbound lanes of the highway, state police said.

Baltimore police have identified the man who died Friday night after crashing into a tree during a police pursuit in East Baltimore. Police said Tabbit Christian Sidney, 37, of the 1600 block of Aisquith St., was driving a sport utility vehicle about 11:30 p.m. when police working with a specialized drug and gun unit attempted to pull the car over for traffic violations and after they said a passenger "exhibited characteristics of an armed person....

Editor's note: Each week, InsideMdSports.com provides this blog with a Maryland recruiting feature that previously appeared as premium content on its site. Maryland joins Miami, West Virginia, Florida, Memphis and a few others in strong pursuit of junior power forward Junior Etou , said Rex Morgan, his coach at Arlington Country Day (Fla.). Which schools have offered? “I think everybody, really,” Morgan said. “They're all just waiting for him to make a decision.” Maryland saw Etou several times last summer and was set to scout him in Florida this season before he suffered several torn ankle ligaments five weeks ago. “They were going to come out [before the injury]

A man sought on drug offenses was killed last night when a pickup truck he was driving crashed in Rosedale, ending a pursuit by police officers in a narcotics task force, authorities said. The pursuit began in Northeast Baltimore about 9 p.m. when city police officers searching for a man wanted on felony drug violations spotted him driving a red Ford pickup truck on Hazelwood Avenue in the Cedonia neighborhood and attempted to stop him. Instead, the man sped off, leading officers on what police described as "a controlled pursuit" through Cedonia and into Baltimore County, with a police helicopter crew following overhead, said Col. Robert Stanton, chief of the city police Criminal Investigation Division.

Happiness, n. 1. The quality of state of being happy. 2. Good fortune, pleasure, contentment, joy. - Random House Webster's College Dictionary Understanding happiness seems even more elusive than attaining it. Who can define such an ephemeral goal? But the pursuit of happiness - suggested by Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence as being at the heart of what America is all about - has become a major subject of inquiry in this troubled world. Millions of copies of self-help books, by writers ranging from the Dalai Lama to M. Scott Peck, have been purchased by readers seeking road maps to happiness.

When Cynthia McBride moved her art gallery to its current location in Annapolis more than two decades ago, she was worried that customers wouldn't be able to find the business. McBride Gallery, which specializes in classical-style paintings, had relocated to 215 Main St., just a block from its original space. But McBride was so concerned she rallied the owners of other local galleries to put on an art walk to spread the news and showcase their offerings. "It was a lazy, hazy road at that time," she said with a laugh.

A Baltimore police officer was charged with second-degree assault after prosecutors say he struck a 14-year-old boy who was already apprehended. Baltimore prosecutors charged Baltimore police 14-year veteran Serge Antonin on Tuesday. He is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 22. He also faces two counts of misconduct, prosecutors said. "We will not tolerate the actions of any officer that breaks the law, in order to enforce the law," Deputy Police Commissioner Jerry Rodriguez said in a statement.

A 32-year-old man was arrested Wednesday after he hit a National Security Agency police officer with his SUV while evading a traffic stop on Route 32 at Fort Meade, Maryland State Police said. NSA officers directed the man, identified as Darnell David Hawkins, of Washington, D.C., to pull into a staging area as he approached an agency checkpoint at about 5:45 a.m., State Police said. Hawkins initially stopped, but then sped off, injuring an officer and nearly striking a barricade on NSA property, police said.

Three people were injured after a police pursuit of a stolen vehicle ended with a crash at North Avenue and North Calvert Street, near city schools headquarters, according to witnesses and police. Witnesses said they saw an unmarked police vehicle in pursuit of a Suzuki sedan before that car collided with another at the intersection. Firefighters removed the driver on a stretcher from the vehicle that was hit, and had to tear the top of the sedan completely off to remove a male in the driver's seat.

A Baltimore man was killed in a car crash Sunday after fleeing from a Maryland State Police trooper in Calvert County, officials said. The man was not immediately identified as authorities worked to notify his relatives. State Police said a trooper, identified as Trooper First Class Shareef Lewis, was monitoring traffic near the intersection of Rt. 4 near Industry Lane in Prince Frederick around 3 p.m. when he noticed a Mitsubishi without a front plate. The trooper attempted to stop the Mitsubishi, which initially pulled onto a shoulder before accelerating and fleeing north along Rt. 4. The trooper followed the car, which drove onto a side road, Main Street, and back onto Rt. 4, swerving back and forth across traffic and going southbound in the northbound lanes of the highway, state police said.

A man was killed in a car crash in Annapolis early Saturday morning after a bizarre series of events that included a confrontation between the occupants of two cars and a police pursuit. The incident began around 4 a.m. when the driver of a Mitsubishi stopped to help those inside of a disabled car on St. Margarets Drive near Meadow Valley Drive, police said. "For some reason," police said, the occupants of the two cars got into an argument. Nathan Dunn, 19, of Annapolis, one of the occupants of the disabled car, punched and kicked the Mitsubishi's passenger side and the car reversed and struck Dunn, who grabbed the car's rear spoiler and was dragged into the road, police said.

A man police suspected was drunk led state troopers on a high-speed chase that began in Carroll County and ended in Baltimore County when the driver veered off a highway ramp, flipped his car three times and died in the crash, authorities said yesterday. Troopers said the Friday night chase reached speeds up to 100 mph as they pursued Richard B. Shipley, 45, of Elkridge. Police said the pursuit began after they received a report of a possible drunken driver on Route 140, west of Sandymount Road.

County police have drawn up new pursuit guidelines to prevent fiascoes such as the one last July, in which officers threw flares and fire extinguishers from bridge overpasses during a high-speed chase to slow a fleeing suspect.The guidelines do not allow officers to pursue suspects in so-called minor cases. Pursuit is allowed in cases of suspected drunken driving, when a weapon has been used or in a crime resulting in serious injury or death."The policy narrows down the amount of discretion an officer has during the pursuit," said Maj. A. Lee Apperson, who heads the Bureau of Patrol.

Every year we are subjected to lists. Forbe's magazine lists the world's wealthiest individuals. Time magazine lists the most "influential" people, though real influence is difficult to define or quantify. What I've never seen is a list of satisfied people, much less stories about how they attained satisfaction. Arianna Huffington is trying to fill that gap. One of the world's biggest Type A personalities, Huffington, who launched The Huffington Post in 2005 and whose picture appears alongside celebrities, politicians and business icons, is now asking a question popularized in an old song by the late Peggy Lee: "Is that all there is?"

The Orioles' hope of adding a free-agent pitcher took a bit of a hit Thursday when left-hander Jason Vargas signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the Kansas City Royals. Vargas, 30, has been someone the Orioles have coveted for years - former pitching coach Rick Adair had Vargas in Seattle and loved the lefty. And so the Orioles made trade overtures in three different seasons to try and get Vargas, but never found a deal to their liking. That the Orioles didn't land Vargas in free agency shouldn't be disappointing for the club, however.